Courtesy of The Business Journals

There’s some bad news for people who already feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of streaming content available out there – on Monday, April 6, a new streaming service, “Quibi,” made its debut. Quibi, which is short for “quick bites,” markets itself as an alternative to classic platforms like Netflix and Hulu by making each installment have a runtime of under 10 minutes. 

Unlike the one-time drop method that Netflix employs or the weekly release schedule that Hulu typically follows, on Quibi a new episode is added to a series every day after the initial release of a small batch of episodes. These episodes would ideally be watched during a lunch break or between classes; therefore, the target audience for Quibi becomes those who do not have the time to sit down for hours to watch content.

Quibi is only available as an app, and there is no desktop version. However, viewers can switch between watching videos vertically and horizontally. Unfortunately, the vertical orientation forces all the action into the middle of the frame – some scenes are awkwardly cropped, making close-up shots downright uncomfortable. When compared to Snap Originals, which can only be watched vertically, Quibi just doesn’t measure up. 

Aside from the less-than-ideal viewing options, Quibi redeems itself slightly with its sleek, easy-to-navigate app layout. The “For You” tab only shows information about one show at a time, letting users easily scroll through while not feeling overwhelmed by choice. 

So, is Quibi worth getting? That depends. The streaming service seems to get by on star power alone – its laundry list of celebrities includes names like Liam Hemsworth, Chance the Rapper (who hosts the “Punk’d” reboot) and Sophie Turner. Other celebrities are paired with concepts that sound like Mad Libs results: Chrissy Teigen hosts “Chrissy’s Court,” a “Judge Judy”-esque comedy series where Teigen gives her verdict on real disputes. Tituss Burgess of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” hosts “Dishmantled,” a cooking competition show where contestants have to recreate dishes that are blasted at them by food cannons. These kinds of series would really work better on a platform like YouTube; being relegated to Quibi hurts their potential to become cult classics among younger generations. 

A few hidden gems in Quibi’s catalog could create the lifelong subscribers that the fledgling streaming service needs to survive in the long term. A reboot of the ‘90s dating show, “Singled Out,” now hosted by actress Keke Palmer and comedian Joel Kim Booster, shows some promise and could attract the same audience that enjoys shows like “Love is Blind.” “&Music,” a documentary series that follows different aspects of the music industry, features an episode about how the choreography for Ariana Grande’s Sweetener World Tour came together. There is also the quirky “Gayme Show!” where during each episode, two straight men are tested on their knowledge of the LGBTQ+ community and compete to become the “Queen of the Straights.”

Still, not every Quibi program can meet the same standard. The short-runtime format works against many of the shows because viewers often do not have a chance to get invested before one episode ends and the next one begins. The concepts sometimes cross the line from quirky and offbeat to plain weird. Reese Witherspoon talking about ants for eight minutes might be appealing to some people, but it’s definitely not for everyone. 

Quibi’s release date also might be hurting its ability to attract the audience it needs. In the face of self-quarantine and stay-home orders, the on-the-go lifestyle that Quibi caters to is no longer as prevalent as it used to be. People may be more willing to binge a whole series rather than wait a whole day for another five or six-minute short clip.

Pricing for Quibi starts on the low side – $4.99 a month with ads and $7.99 a month without ads. However, this streaming service has a lot of competition, and it is hard to say if its current offerings are enough to draw in the number of eyeballs that it needs to stay relevant. Quibi’s later offerings might change things, but as of now, the future looks uncertain for this new streaming service.